Abstract
Leading a student affairs unit during a global pandemic has enough challenges. But when your institution is located in one of the nation's COVID‐19 hot spots, the challenges could seem insurmountable.
KATHRYN HUTCHINSON
But Kathryn T. Hutchinson, Ph.D., Vice President of Student Affairs at St. John's University, located in Queens, New York, knew it came down to setting priorities. “First and foremost, it is essential to always keep the well‐being, dignity, and success of students and the entire community at the forefront of decisions and communications,” she said.
Another priority included reaching out to those students and staff who were either sick, caring for sick family members, or grieving the loss of loved ones, and to offer them support via counseling services and help from the university's health care team, said Hutchinson, a licensed psychologist.
Communication and collaboration played key roles in helping Hutchinson lead successfully through the sudden shift to an online environment, move off campus, smooth the disruption to daily procedures, and address the significant psychological impact of the pandemic. “Managing the mass amount of communication was critical to the success of this transition,” said Hutchinson, who has worked in higher ed for 24 years. A comprehensive set of FAQs from across campus with links to resources and forms the campus community might need “helped to streamline the information,” she said. “Clear and concise communication results in reduced stress, fewer questions, and, if the communication is a directive, more action.”
Keeping up with the latest information about the pandemic, including public health guidance and city/state restrictions, “is a daunting task,” Hutchinson acknowledged, adding that “a team approach was essential .” In fact, each member of the senior leadership team became responsible for “monitoring information pertinent to their area of expertise and synthesizing this to share with the team,” she explained.
That approach carried over to matching individual strengths to new tasks, Hutchinson said. “It's critical to tap those on your team who have the skill sets to help problem‐solve, create, organize, and communicate what needs to be done and is being done. Leading across organizational structures has never been more important. We as a team agreed early on we would tap those with the proper skill sets and not be restricted by reporting lines,” she noted.
Hutchinson also divided up team members’ work so they had urgent, crisis‐related tasks and responses in addition to future‐focused projects to provide hope and some sense of normalcy, she said. Along the way, she made it a point to continue holding regular team meetings to touch base on key priorities and review progress. And because of the uncertainty and rapidly evolving nature of the crisis, she regularly reevaluated priorities and clearly communicated those, along with her expectations to try to prevent team members from becoming overwhelmed, she said. Keeping in mind that many tasks would take longer in light of navigating the new online environment and transition to remote work, Hutchinson helped team members set realistic timelines.
Through it all, she emphasized a people‐first focus, conducting regular check‐ins with team members, which she said includes providing them with “feedback, praise, and gratitude for the excellent work they are doing under very difficult circumstances.”
Email hutchink@stjohns.edu.
Look for opportunities, partnerships amidst challenges.
While you're managing the challenges inherent in adjusting to an online environment, don't overlook the opportunities and the potential campus community partners, advised Kathryn T. Hutchinson, Ph.D., Vice President of Student Affairs at St. John's University. She was named one of NASPA's Pillars of the Profession for 2020.
“Many student groups have creative ideas and solutions to share. We have partnered with them to make these happen, and the results have been very positive,” Hutchinson noted. “I am also grateful for the many service initiatives that continue despite the pandemic,” she added. Students, faculty, and administrators found new ways to engage in service, ranging from a virtual Relay for Life to raise funds for the fight against cancer, online tutoring, fundraising for local causes, donations of thousands of PPE items to its partner medical center and other hospitals, and alumni helping support the emergency aid fund for students, to faculty using their expertise and 3D printers to create shields for health care workers, and faculty and doctoral students in the psychology program volunteering for New York's crisis hotline.